INVESTIGATORS are to look into claims that the father of sprint hurdler Dwight Thomas may have been murdered as a result of a long-running dispute over a pickup truck.

The alleged dispute started about five months ago when the 62-year-old Aston Thomas took control of the van following the death of a relative.

Shortly thereafter, statements that could be deemed as threatening were allegedly made towards the senior Thomas over the vehicle, the Observer was told yesterday.

“The matter was not reported to the police because it was not seen as anything. Nobody expected it to reach this far,” said a person close to the family.

On Tuesday, a police source close to the investigation said that the claim would be investigated and the person at the centre of the allegation interviewed in an effort to determine its merit.

“There is nothing to link that person to the murder at this time. While these may be contributing factors, we don’t have any solid material yet, but we will be looking into it,” said the police source.

Thomas was shot and chopped to death on Sunday night by men who gained entrance to his modest dwelling in Glengoffe in the hills of St Catherine, by forcing their way through his kitchen window.

The house was ransacked and the bed was flipped over. The men attempted to drive away the van but it crashed into the home causing the perpetrators to flee, leaving behind the implement used to chop Thomas. A motor vehicle battery, believed to be brought to the scene by the men, was also abandoned there.

Initially, the robbery was being viewed as the main motive the murder until information surfaced about the alleged dispute over the vehicle.

When the Observer visited the yard Tuesday, a family member and a friend were busy washing the blood from items of Thomas’s clothing, among other things. Though the bedroom in which Thomas died was cleaned, stains of blood could be seen on the floor and on the walls.

Thomas was described as a “very quiet man”, who got along well with others. His son, the 110-metre hurdles national record holder, is said to be badly affected by the murder as he was very close to his father.

The senior Thomas is survived by seven adult children.